


Fresh Coffee

by FallacyFallacy



Category: Mahou Sensei Negima!
Genre: Bisexual Character, M/M, Spoilers, preslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-04
Updated: 2011-09-04
Packaged: 2017-10-23 09:56:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/249050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallacyFallacy/pseuds/FallacyFallacy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fate tries some new coffee. Spoilers up to chapter 336.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fresh Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> Because the latest chapter told hold of my imagination and refused to let go.

“And coffee!” Negi grinned, holding out the cup with its saucer. Fate took it carefully, ignoring the way their fingers brushed.

Negi left again, returning a moment later with his own cup, this filled with tea, and a packet of sugar. He ripped it open, scattering stray particles over the table, and upended it into the milky tea. “I don't drink it myself, of course,” he said, shaking the packet, “but apparently the coffee from this place is meant to be really good!” He smiled earnestly. “The students at this school are all so talented!”

Fate watched him, waiting without moving for his drink to cool down. “As if I could trust the taste of a person who drinks tea regularly.”

Negi's grin widened, his eyes dancing. If the homage to their last conversation about tea was a little morbid, he apparently didn't care.

Finished with the sugar, Negi dropped the packet into the saucer, swirling the tea with his spoon. “Actually, it's funny, but I don't think I actually drink tea because of the taste. Not entirely.”

Fate raised an eyebrow minutely, his silence encouraging Negi to continue.

“Which isn't to say that I don't like the taste! I love it! But more than that...” He ceased stirring, tapping the teaspoon on the edge of the cup. “It sort of...reminds me of home, you know?” he said, resting the teaspoon against the saucer. “I think tea is very much a sort of family thing in Wales, and it was the same for us. My cousin and I, Anya, even the other people in my village... Whenever we got together, we'd always have tea. And we'd have it every day – like a ritual. Heh, it used to be a joke that we always had to have the tea at exactly 4 o'clock, because one of our neighbours was kinda strict about that, for a while. So we'd all get together and have tea, and just talk...” Negi fiddled with the handle but didn't lift it, stroking it with his thumb. “It sorta makes me remember that time, I guess. I never even knew about any of this...” Suddenly, he raised his eyes to Fate's. “Ah, not that I regret it! If there's anything I can do to help people, I will, and if I hadn't gone here I never would have met you or anyone else!” He smiled. “I just guess sometimes I get a bit nostalgic, y'know?”

Coffee was a wonderful drink, but in Fate's experience, it was easy to do badly. It was overly bitter and difficult to drink. Or it was overly sweetened, the sugar drowning out the natural taste of the beans. And if you didn't get the right coffee beans in the first place, you might as well give up.

But coffee that was made well was delicious. The rich, full taste hit the perfect balance between bitter and sweet, exemplifying rather than masking the taste of the beans. It was wonderful. It had been a long time since Fate had tasted such coffee.

He took a sip of the coffee before him. Too hot; he really should have waited longer. But behind the heat he could taste it. Deep and dark and _fresh_.

Delicious. It appeared Negi was right.


End file.
